[ferrumdg]

I've been using my milling machine with a Fagor 8025 Controller now for some month - and it has been happily milling parts without much of any issue.
But two days ago I was starting up the machine - and whilst everything else powered up, the screen remained black.
Alright - shut it down again, checked fuses and everything (everything was ok) - powered it up again and it came back to life...
However when I tried to start a program (I od 99% drip feed through Fagor's WinDNC software) it gave me an error about the X-axis limit.
(mind you the program worked flawlessly before the crash).

When I then tried to manually move the axis as I thought maybe the work-zero was "lost" during the "black screen", I noticed that I could no longer move the table on the X axis all the way - but it would hit the hard limit on the other way.
Same goes for the Y axis - one way it hits the limit - the other way it would crash into the machine's Vertical column !
Same goes for the Z axis... doesn't go down all the way any more - but basically "crashes" into it's physical limits"...

I checked some of the parameters (soft limit) but it all looks as before...

What's wrong? any ideas welcome.

thanks!

[TAProwler]

From your description, it sounds (at least initially) like some of the parameters got corrupted. But, you've stated that you checked them and they are as they were before the problem.

Does the machine do a home? Can you home the X,Y, and Z axis after start-up? The machine may be holding onto a bad value if the any of the axes were moved when it was "off".

Also, make sure that you set all of your work offsets G53 thru G59 to (0,0,0) in one of the first lines of your program - if you are not going to use any work offsets in the program later. You can also do this by using option 8 and setting the work offset table there.

Hopefully, this will give you someplace to start. Maybe it will help uncover the real problem?
Good Luck,
Todd

[ferrumdg]

Thanks Todd,

There were a couple of odd things - I was able to home X & Z and that broght back the full range ...
but I wasn't able to home Y...
after a bit of fiddling I found that the homing switch was not working properly because it was slightly moved.
re-positioned and I was able to home Y.

Still need to figure out what caused the black-out though.

thanks.

[TAProwler]

Excellent! Nice troubleshooting.
So, it sounds like you are now able to run your part program(s) again - right?

I have a couple of more thoughts:

1. I sounds like (from previous post) that you have an accurate copy of your parameters. If its not current, do yourself a favor and update your backup copy of your parameters. It will save you massive frustration later. I've done it as simply as pulling up the parameters one page at a time and taking a digital picture of each page. Since you have WinDNC - you can make a copy right to the computer (and I suspect you probably already have).

2. The 'black-out" could have been caused by a simple boot failure (the computer board fails to boot up properly). It's not common, but does happen. If it is something else, it is acting intermittently. Intermittent failures are a headache to fix - because before you can begin (or finish) troubleshooting, the problem fixes itself. When this happens (to me), sometimes the only practical solution is to let it progress to a hard failure. Once it becomes a hard failure it becomes much easier to identify and fix. So, march on and keep note of whether this "black-out" problem happens more, or more frequently, only happens when associated with XXX or YYY, or one day the machine just will not boot up at all. Then, the problem and/or fix becomes easier to identify.

I mention both the above items, because I have a "hunch" that the battery might be getting old (the battery that keeps the computer from loosing the parameters). A low battery might be causing the failed boot. (Do you know the history of the battery? Has it been changed recently?) If it is about to go flat, you will want to have the parameters backed up. If you want to (or eventually need to) change the battery, just search this forum for "change battery" or "replace battery" and you'll find several threads on how to replace the battery (without loosing the parameters at all).

Hope this is helpful. Good luck with the continued troubleshooting.
Regards,
Todd

[Al_The_Man]

One other thing to copy on a 8025 often is the PLC, depending on what version you have and if internal or external PLC.
If you get a 061 Battery error, you have 10 days in which to replace the battery module.
Change with power on.
Al.

[TAProwler]

That's a good point, Al. I didn't specifically mention that. But, yes - the PLC program is maintained by the same battery. So are the tool tables, the offset tables, the leadscrew compensation tables and maybe one or two more that I've missed.

Thanks for the catch.
R/Todd

[ferrumdg]

Todd & Al,

Thanks for the inputs - VERY HELPFUL!!

Well I got the machine (the entire mill) through a local Fagor distributor & service-rep-tech center.
It's a rather "small" machine - but swiss made and very solid.
Gladly all the components are of a very high quality...
however I can't say when the battery was changed for the last time.
overall the machine was in a good condition - no neglect... so I guess it has seen some TLC over the years - but you never really now.
So I guess I'll be changing the battery pretty soon, just to make sure.

Thanks again!

[CNCTech25]

Thanks Todd,

There were a couple of odd things - I was able to home X & Z and that broght back the full range ...
but I wasn't able to home Y...
after a bit of fiddling I found that the homing switch was not working properly because it was slightly moved.
re-positioned and I was able to home Y.

Still need to figure out what caused the black-out though.

thanks.

Most likely the issue with your display going blank is due to the controller circuit for the CRT. If your screen goes out again, press a button and if it beeps, it's simply your display. If no beep, then you have a bigger issue with the micro-processor.